Democracy Day: Nigerians Task Tinubu on Improved Living Standard
As Nigeria celebrates democracy day, some stakeholders have urged President Bola Tinubu to take urgent steps to improve the living standard of Nigerians. They urged the government to retrace its steps and formulate policies that would quickly check inflation and improve the welfare of ordinary Nigerians.
A civil servant, Salawu Ajoze, said that since Tinubu took over government in the past one year, things appeared to have gotten worse. He urged the Federal Government to reconsider some of its policies that had imposed hardship on the populace.
“There was very high hope and expectations when Tinubu took over in 2023, but everything appears to have been dashed.
“The removal of petrol subsidy alone has created serious economic hardship, which the government has not been able to ameliorate till now, ” he said. He urged the president to agree with the organised labour on a decent living wage for Nigerian workers so as to reduce the huge financial burden that his policies had placed on them.
Abbas Ibrahim, a pharmacist, said that there was virtually nothing to celebrate about the democracy day. According to Ibrahim, since the return to democracy in 1999, the country appears to be retrogressing.
“The idea of democracy was to create an atmosphere of freedom for equitable development and economic prosperity, but that has not been the case in Nigeria.
“Since 1999, things appear to be degenerating. Look at the high level of insecurity, inflation, unemployment. There is really nothing to celebrate about Nigerian democracy, ” he said.
Mr Aliu Sule, a retired director in the federal civil service, blamed the insensitivity of politicians for worsening living condition of. Nigerians. Sule called for a drastic reduction in the cost of governance to allow more funds for development.
“The cost of governance in Nigeria appears to be the highest in the world, yet our minimum wage ranks among the lowest.
“I suggest a drastic cut in the cost of governance. In fact, we should start by scrapping one arm of the National Assembly and embracing the unicameral legislature. That will go a long way to freeing more funds for development, ” he said.
However, Mr Abdulkadri Aminu, a public affairs analyst, urged Nigerians to give the Federal Government benefit of the doubt, and more time for its economic policies to gestate. According to him, no government can deliberately adopt policies with the intention of subjecting its populace to hardship.
“I agree that things are looking tough for Nigerians, but I am hopeful that the situation will improve over time when government policies start to bear fruit, ” he said FG Tasks Stakeholders on Cybersecurity Management
